Free summer reading! I've been busy downloading books from the Gutenberg site. Great fun! My Kindle will be packed and ready to go when I board the plane for WA on Wednesday.
Project Gutenberg is the place where you can download over 33,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable device -- free in the United States because their copyrights have expired. No fee or registration is required. My kind of place!
Besides reading, we've jumped back into our remodeling projects. Phase I started two days ago. Here's the progress, so far.
Sauce's Feroglia Family History
5 May
Sauce in '58
Mark has done an admirable job compiling Dad's family history. Dad wrote the skeleton and Mark researched and filled in many of the blanks, with the help of Jim Enrico and the internet. I added a few pix and uploaded to the web for family reminiscence.
If you can add any more info, especially from those early years, we'd love to hear from you.
Cinco and Gale the Alpha Male
15 April (later that day)
Bi-Annual Tree Chop
22 April
Bloody stumps of the tree near the back door half the height it was before
Mango season is upon us and we were up to our hipbones in mangoes (again!), squished on the ground, rotting, cuz we couldn't keep up with them. How many smoothies can one drink in a day? The freezer is stuffed and we can't find anymore friends to give them to.
We asked around and the uncle of a friend had a long ladder, chain saw and machete, all the right tools to help us with our problem. So bright and early Tuesday morning he started with the chopping. By noon the back mango tree was 30 feet shorter, the front one shorter than that, and the avocado's awkward side branch that had shot off into space was finally within reach of earth.
After Lorenzo danced amongst the branches, giving me palpitations, Stan and I were left with branches and mangoes strewn everywhere, and no way to dispose of them.
Our last tree-trimming escapade ended with Stan down at city hall paying a fine for dumping in a vacant lot. Then, lately, when we've tried burning, our neighbors have complained. Do you suppose it was the noxious burning plastic when Stan tossed the lighter into the inferno?
Well, with malice and forethought, we had asked Lorenzo to chop the branches off in small chunks, so now all we have to do with the larger branches is find someone who cooks with wood (like our neighbors up the hill) and - here's the crux - wants to haul the wood away.
Trench of fruitflies, waiting to be covered
The mangoes themselves are the bigger garbage problem. There must be 50 bushels out there on the ground. Hauling them to the garbage in black plastic garden bags is one solution, but not too many fit into one bag before exceeding its weight limit, so we're also burying a few. Stan and I took turns digging a trench. By next year it could be a hedge-row of little trees, totally defeating our purpose.
Note: Wouldn't it be smarter to trim trees before the mangoes show up? There's a whole 3-month window where trimming without the mess is possible.
Leaves and branches piled high in the back corner and along the wall, logs stacked here and there....
Lots of the low-growers took the brunt of falling branches, but we're not landscaping anything else until the remodeling is finished -- now, I wonder when that might be?
A Fifth of...
15 April
A whole day and night of yowling kitty prompted the cat catcher to set a trap. An empty lot on a dead end street is too tempting for heartless people with feline surplus.
Having spent a vewy-scaiwy night in the bushes, hiding himself from marauders, thirsty and hungry, he was more than interested in the bait.
In less than 20 minutes, hunger got the best of him; while he gobbled food, the trap snapped shut.
Popped into a cage for his very first trek to Dra. Gaby's (where he was pronounced fit). Chivo, the ambassador, immediately took possession.
Cinco and Chivo; a squirt of Revolution on each of the five, and Cinco was allowed out to play.
Since Gale was dumped in the Long Beach Marina in 2004, it seems like every coupla years another cat gets tossed our way. 2006 - BuckyKat; 2008 - Chivo; 2009 - Picudo; and now, just when we thought there was no more room in the litter boxes, here's Cinco.
A Great BurntFrog Tour
9 April
Stan planned a perfect day trip to share local flora and fauna with John and Linda. First we dodged rock-hauling trucks and road graders on the lagoon side of old town, slogged through the construction zone and squeaked by afore-mentioned trucks on the makeshift bridge over the new cut into the lagoon, just to check out the new ship access, rail line and other power plant modifications.
Finally the highway reverted to normal at the same time we jumped off at Cuyutlan to tour the turtle sanctuary (photos) and the salt museum
(photo gallery). We snapped the requisite photos (that I've compiled in albums) and then it was on to the big surprise.
Stan and I'd never been to the cocodilario; didn't know what to expect. After poking around the back roads, guessing which sign to follow, we finally stumbled upon the place, way out in the sticks.
Unfortunately, it appeared our search was in vain; the joint was all locked up and there were no cars in the parking lot. Curious, though, we drove around the auditorium, and there, patiently waiting, all alone in the shade, was an elderly lady with a cash box. She gladly collected our (very reasonable) entrance fees and directed us toward the hatchling pens and the beckoning walkway beyond (photo gallery).
Barefoot
31 March
Can you ever look at a cat print in the same way, again?
Shaméd Memorium
29 March
Shaméd at home
Shaméd had been with Diana for six years. He lived with five other cats, three dogs, a squirrel and various other rescues through the years. He was a homebody, but was free to roam. Yesterday a rotten neighbor poisoned him.
Our neighbor dogs have also been poisoned and it's a horrible, painful death that's accompanied with bleeding from front and back and agonizing wails.
